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All are similar in price with the Fit being the most expensive. All are hatchbacks for the most storage space and all are the "sporty" model. Just looking for opinions with people that have driven a few of these.

The Mazda2 would be the cheapest but also the most anemic with only 100HP on tap. The Fiesta is more powerful but I've heard stories that dealers don't want to budge off MSRP since it is doing pretty well in sales. I'm surprised there aren't more Fit votes as that usually is the go-to compact.

I'm also intersted in the Sonic. It seems that Chevy has really stepped their game up and the Sonic is a good contender that should drive pretty well. Any opinions on it from those who have driven one?

Out of that list, I'd take the Fit based on cargo capacity and value retention. Some of the others are either really small, or like the sonic - completely unproven. Chevy has a solid reputation for turning out entry level turds. While the sonic has good reviews so far, I doubt any have been driven more than 10K miles at this point.

I'd love a 318ti but all the ones on eBay and Craigslist are overpriced or in terrible condition. I'm guessing it is much cheaper to maintain than a E46 but probably won't be as cheap as a car in warranty. I do like the RWD + manual combo that you can't find in compacts (or sub-compacts) anymore.